


See Him in a Better Place

by cap_and_cyborg



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canon Compliant, Death, F/M, Silena's Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 07:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4868534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cap_and_cyborg/pseuds/cap_and_cyborg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Silena always wanted everyone around her to feel loved.  With Charlie, she figures out what the stories are all about.  But their story can't have a happy ending... unless she fights for it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	See Him in a Better Place

Ever since she could understand what love was, Silena had been caught in a paradox.  On the one hand, she believed that love was one of the most beautiful forces on earth, Olympus, and even the Underworld.  It could heal hearts, stop wars, and save the world.  On the other, she grew up with a father who made chocolates that tasted like cardboard because all the love inside him had been used up in one beautiful, glorious affair with her mother.  He didn’t have any left to put into the chocolates that he made and he didn’t have any for her.

After so many years of growing up in a house with no love, never getting any in return when she gave so much, it was easy for her to leave to go to Camp Half-Blood.  There, she had friends and siblings to shower with affection.  Sure, there were people that she didn’t get along with, but no matter who they were, they would receive a smile, a wave, or a greeting.

She knew what it was like to be unloved, and she wouldn’t wish that on anybody.

Which is part of the reason that Luke had so much appeal for her.  She wanted to show him that he was loved, that he was worthy of love.  She wanted to save him from his demons.

It took her a long time to realize that she couldn’t have saved him because he didn’t want to be saved.  Not by her, anyway.

She had been helping Luke for a year when Charles Beckendorf was claimed at dinner one night, the sign for Hephaestus glowing over his head, illuminating his face in a way that made her heart jump.

_Oh_ , Silena thought, _so this is what my dad was talking about._

But she didn’t want their relationship to just be a hearts racing, soul crushing, devastating fling.  She wanted a relationship, where they knew each other and loved each because of that.  So she waited.  She got to know him.  She learned who he was, her Charlie, until the day that he finally asked her to fireworks and she said yes.

It was everything her father told her about when she was a child and more.  Because Charlie stayed.  Stayed through the walks through the forests, laughed as she pulled him in and kissed him against a tree until the dryad shooed them away.  Stayed through her bad days, when she was convinced that he would eventually leave her like her mom left her dad.  No matter what, Silena could always count on Charlie being there for her as she was there for him.

Until the day that he was going to help Percy blow up the _Princess Andromeda_.  She had always been good with the pegasi, so she had groomed Blackjack before he would take Charlie away from her, fed him a donut for luck.

If she had known that the kiss they shared in the pegasi stable was going to be the last one, she would have made it last longer.  She had a bad feeling about this mission, though, so she poured her feelings into it, short as it later seemed.

 

“I love you,” she whispered, snuggling into his firm chest.

His arms encircled her and he rested his head on top of her.  “You know that I love you, Silena.  Always will.”

_You wouldn’t if you knew_ , she thought miserably, but brushed those feelings aside so she could be strong for Charlie.

Charlie kissed her forehead and stepped back.  Jumping on Blackjack’s back, he turned and looked at her.  “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

She swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled.  “Of course.  Be safe, Charlie.”

Silena stood there and watched as he flew away, until he was out of sight.  She started caring for the other pegasi, trying to ignore the empty feeling in her heart, like Charlie was already gone.

But oh, she was so wrong.

When she truly found out that Charlie was dead, she didn’t feel empty.  She felt overwhelmed.  This, this was what her father had felt throughout the years.  No wonder he had no more love left to give.  Her heart was so full, full of love for Charlie, brimming with sadness over his death, exploding with the pain of knowing that _she caused it_.  She would almost welcome emptiness.  At least that way, she wouldn’t feel anything.

And then came the Battle of Manhattan.

For years, she had thought that she couldn’t fight Luke directly, that if she did, he would expose her secret and everyone would hate her.

All she had to do was realize that she didn’t care.

She loved Camp Half-Blood and her fellow campers more than she cared if they hated her.  She loved Charlie more than she feared Luke and what he had become.

And that was what helped her strap on Clarisse’s armor.

The thought of the love that she had for her family, her campmates, and Charlie helped her fight the drakon.  She was terrified as she dodged and attacked, but she knew that she had to do this.  It was the only way that she would finally find peace with what she had done to all of them

When the drakon sprayed her, she thought it was fitting.  For years, she had been the daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty.  Now her love was spent and her beauty was gone.

She had nothing left to give.

When they took off Clarisse’s helmet, her vision was already fading.  She could see her friends around her.  She had to tell them that she deserved this.  That this was okay.

“All my fault…” she croaked.

As she showed them the charm and explained, her vision started to waver.  Clarisse’s tear streaked face blurred and she saw a glimpse of someone else.  Dark skin.  Huge smile. Muscled arms reaching out toward her.

“Charlie…” she whispered, staring at him.  “See Charlie…”

 **  
** Clarisse and her friends faded from view and she stepped into Charlie’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Canon compliant deaths. Beware for feels be here.


End file.
